The Lady Bears (29-0) look to secure their first state title since 1999 as they play Southwest Atlanta Christian in the Class A private school finals in Macon Saturday.

It will be a rematch of a state semifinal game from a year ago, which SACA won to advance to the finals -- where it would go on to lose to St. Francis.

Holy Innocents' advanced to the title game with a 46-20 semifinal victory over Darlington at Kennesaw State Monday.

The Lady Bears advanced to the semifinals with a 72-51 win over Mount Paran Christian last Wednesday.

“I felt Mount Paran played very well.” Holy Innocents’ girls’ coach Tony Watkins said. “I thought our girls, too, played well for the most part. We made several defensive mistakes in the second quarter, but we were pretty solid the rest of the game. I’m proud of this group of girls.”

Erika Cassell had 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Sydney Long added 12 points and Khayla Pointer had 12 to lead the Lady Bears.

The St. Pius girls (29-3) are one game away from a possible second consecutive state title as they advanced to the AAA girls’ championship game with a 67-53 semifinal win over Beach at Georgia State and College in Milledgeville last Saturday.

Asia Durr scored 34 points and Jasmine Carter added 19 to lead the Golden Lions, who will play Buford in the AAA girls’ finals in Macon Saturday.

St. Pius beat Morgan County 51-38 in a AAA quarterfinal game last Wednesday. Carter scored 26 points and was 10-for-10 from the free throw line, while Durr added 23 points and 10 rebounds in the win.

The Holy Innocents’ boys (21-6) fell short in its bid for the state title after losing to St. Francis 74-72 in a Class A private school boys’ quarterfinal game last Thursday.

“This team is a special group of student-athletes who left everything on the floor,” Holy Innocents’ boys’ coach Terry Kelly said. “The four seniors – Jason [Schick], Jack [Palmore], Josh [Ledbetter] and Darryl [Stewart] – have left this program in a better place than when they arrived and have set the benchmark for success very high. It’s been an honor to be the coach of these young men and they will forever be a part of the Holy Innocents’ basketball family.”

Holy Innocents’ beat Mount Pisgah Christian 75-61 in the Class A private school quarterfinals last Tuesday. Stewart led the Bears with 19 points and Brent Duncan added 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Ledbetter and Asbury each contributed 14 points.

The Westminster boys (15-13) saw their season come to an end after losing to Calhoun 59-37 in the second round of the AA boys’ tournament last Tuesday.

St. Pius (24-6) and Marist (16-14) were also eliminated from boys’ state tournament play in second-round games.

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